Britain, awash with rogues and liars in high places, says "Farewell" to a Principled old Nurse and Truth Teller called Graham Pink

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Graham, who has died at the age of  91, was born Francis Graham Pink, in the Manchester district of Barton upon Irwell in Lancashire, early in 1930, the son of Magadalen and Victor, who worked as a bank clerk. His was a Catholic family and he was the youngest of five children and grew up in the family home in Whalley Range about two miles from the centre of Manchester. With seven mouths to feed on Victor's modest salary from the bank, money was tight and he recalled how stressful it was for his mother, trying to make ends meet and pay for the doctor fees in the days before the free National Health Service. 

Graham attended, from the age of 11, the independent school for Catholic boys, St Bede’s College in Manchester. It had been set up in the 1870s as a 'commercial school' to prepare the sons of Manchester Catholics for a life in business and the professions and supported the nearby St Bede's Mission and priests on the school's staff worked to provide for the spiritual needs of the Catholic population in Whalley. Graham would have been familiar with the school motto : 'Range.Nunquam Otio Torpebat,' 'He never relaxed in idleness'.

After he left school at the age of 18 in 1948. he spent his two years national service in the Sick Berth Branch of the Royal Navy, where he worked as a Medical Assistant and was known as 'scablifter' or 'doc' in Royal Naval Jackspeak. After he was demobbed, he continued his medical training and qualified as a state registered nurse at Withington Hospital, Manchester, in 1951. Graham then worked as a nurse for three years, including a year in Canada

Graham then left the nursing profession to become a teacher at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Secondary Modern School in Stretford, Greater Manchester. It was here that he taught, not Science, but English, geography and woodwork for 25 years, the last 10 as the Head of the English Department. Morrissey was one of his pupils who later wrote to Graham to say how much he had enjoyed being taught by him and in turn, Graham said he had fond memories of the rebellious teenager, whom he described as “a very bright young man”.  Morrissey's memories of the school were less fond, as revealed in The Smiths 1985 song, 'Headmaster Ritual' and its opening lyrics : Belligerent ghouls /Run Manchester schools / Spineless swines /Cemented minds.

Now in his early 50s, having left teaching, Graham returned to nursing, first as a Student Nurse Tutor and then as a Night Duty Staff Nurse in the 'Regional Acute Burns and Plastic Surgery Unit' at Withington. Then in 1987, at the age of 57, he took up the appointment which would change his life and propel him into the national limelight as 'Supervising Charge Nurse For Nights' at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

 Witnessing the fact that there were just not enough staff to cope with the desperately ill and dying patients in his care, he began to write a series of letters to those in authority, highlighting their suffering. He later said he was driven by the knowledge that the men and women living out their last days on his wards had been through the horrors of the Second World War and "deserved the best". It was clear to him that, with just one qualified nurse and two healthcare assistants looking after 23 highly dependent patients, they were plainly not getting it.

Graham wrote to his letters to hospital managers, civil servants and politicians all the way up to the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. In them he set out in meticulous detail the harsh realities of life on the wards and they made compelling, if deeply uncomfortable, reading.

AUGUST 24 1989.  F. Richards. Chairman, Stockport Health Authority                                     

OCTOBER 31. J. Geraghty. Director of Nursing, Stepping Hill Hospital 

and 

NOVEMBER 13 

JANUARY 11

JANUARY 25 

MARCH 21. The Prime Minister. Mrs Thathcher. 10 Downing Street 

Graham would have remained unknown had he not came to public attention at the age of 60 in 1990, when extracts of the many letters, with his trademark signoff were published in the Guardian newspaper. These had been passed on for publication, with Graham's reluctant agreement, by the local MP, Andrew Bennett. The result, in terms of reader response, revealed itself in the shape of more than 4,000 letters of support. 

In 1991, Graham was sacked by the hospital  for the offence of  'breaching patient confidentiality', despite the fact that he had not named any patients,  He now joined the Royal College of Nursing, which supported him at his disciplinary hearing and then his case went to a tribunal. After two weeks, the Health Authority conceded his dismissal had been unfair, as Graham had not been 'given a warning' and he was awarded the maximum compensation of £11,188. However, he was not reinstated and as a nationally recognised whistleblower, his medical career was effectively over. 

With his dismissal, he became a nursing hero and an inspiration to a generation of young student nurses who admired his courage and principled stand in his pursuit of decent patient care and he became a standard bearer for properly resourced nursing. He now travelled the country speaking to gatherings of nurses where he explained that he had made a case for three more nurses each night, which was refused because but that would have set a precedent for elsewhere. His campaign led to a 'World in Action' television documentary and debates in the House of Commons.

Hansard recorded that in December 1990 Andrew Bennett asked the Health Minister, Stephen Dorrell : "Will the Minister join me in congratulating Mr. Graham Pink on having the courage to describe so movingly in The Guardian and on television the major problems faced in Stepping Hill on the night shift on geriatric wards? Will the hon. Gentleman condemn the 147district health authority for suspending Mr. Pink for his whistle-blowing activities rather than solving the problems at that hospital? Does he agree that that is deplorable?" 

To which the Minister replied : "No, Sir. I shall not join the hon. Gentleman in congratulating Mr. Pink. The trouble with Mr. Pink's allegations is that he does not have the support of his colleagues, the clinicians in the hospital or the health authority's chief nursing officer; nor can it be established on any of the published criteria that his allegations are justified". 

When the proposed new law covering Whistleblower Protection was raised in Parliament in 1995 the MP, Dr Tony Wright said : "The Government have now inserted a whistleblowing clause into the current Pensions Bill in the wake of the Maxwell fraud, to put a duty upon auditors and actuaries to speak up about malpractice to the regulatory authority. So there is a public interest in whistleblowing, yet there is no effective protection for whistleblowers. The names of Chris Chapman, Graham Pink and Helen Zeitlin testify to the consequences that have befallen the brave people who have tried to raise concerns about the National Health Service".

In retirement, Graham appropriately gained an MSc degree in 'Healthcare Ethics' at the University of Liverpool and then a PhD from Manchester. He continued to use his case to create momentum for the 'Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998', designed to protect : '"workers" making disclosures in the public interest and allows such individuals to claim compensation for victimisation following such disclosures'. At the age 83 in 2013, his book, 'A Time To Speak – Diary of an NHS Whistleblower', was published. 

Graham has the distinction of being British nursing’s most famous "whistleblower", although for him the term was “inelegant” and he preferred “truth-teller” 

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In grateful thanks for the inspiration supplied by Janet Snell's obituary for Graham in the Guardian.